This Senior Lecturer is helping shape a more sustainable future and is also one of the country's most accomplished handpan players.
Dr Baran Yildiz, at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE), grew up asking lots of questions. Big ones about the universe and human existence, to why home electronics work the way they do.
“I was a curious and inquisitive child,” says Baran. “I really wanted to understand everything, like how the universe works, about what consciousness is, about how gadgets function.
“And, I never really stopped.”
Engineering seemed an inevitable path. It ran in the family, and he had a natural talent for problem-solving, organisation and maths.
“My dad was an engineer, so there was a little bit of a gentle push, even though my mum wanted me to follow her career and become a doctor,” Baran says. “You could say I chose engineering, or maybe engineering chose me.”
After studying mechanical engineering in Istanbul, Baran moved to Australia to complete a master’s and PhD in renewable energy engineering at SPREE.
“After my undergraduate, I was at a bit of a crossroads and unsure of what to do next,” Baran says. “I came across renewable energy engineering while speaking to some SPREE alumni who were working in the space, and it just clicked with me.
“It’s good for the environment and good for the soul.”
Today, Baran channels his curiosity into tackling one of Australia’s most urgent sustainability challenges – how to integrate millions of distributed energy resources into the grid.
“Australia now has more than 4 million rooftop solar systems, batteries, electric vehicles and smart appliances, which are all transforming the grid,” Baran says. “So, the big questions I ask today are: how do we integrate all these energy resources, while maintaining reliability, affordability and equity?”
Baran the musician
When he isn’t solving energy problems, Baran turns to his other passion, music. He plays, composes, and teaches the handpan, a unique steel-shell percussion instrument known for its soft, distinct, ethereal tones.
“I was classically trained as a pianist and studied at a conservatory,” Baran says. “When I started university, I discovered drumming and fell in love with it.”
A chance encounter in Amsterdam changed everything.
“I heard this echo across a canal and saw a busker playing the handpan,” Baran says. “I was mesmerised. It combines rhythm and melody, the drumming side and the piano side, so it felt like the perfect instrument for me.”
Baran has since released two albums, performed at festivals around the world and run workshops for aspiring players. The highlight of his music career so far was performing his own compositions with a symphony orchestra in Cyprus.
“Twenty to 30 highly skilled musicians all with beautiful instruments playing my compositions was incredible,” Baran says. “It was such a special sound that I won’t forget.”
Baran says engineering and music each sharpen the other, and that he wouldn’t choose one over the other.
“Engineering gives me structure and planning, which I apply in my music, while my music gives me improvisation and adaptability, which I bring back into engineering,” Baran says.
“When I play music, I’m a better engineer, and when I do engineering, I’m a better musician.
“Together, they make me whole.”
What’s something about you that might surprise your colleagues?
I try to keep a serious daily meditation practice. I see it as mental hygiene which is essential for my well-being. Our work is very mentally demanding, and meditation helps me clear my head and stay more present.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
Trust the process. As long as you’re ethical, have good intentions and do your best, things will unfold as they’re meant to.
What makes you happy?
Family. I’m excited to become a father – we’re expecting a baby in May.
What day in your life would you like to relive?
It might sound a bit abstract, but I’d choose any day when I’ve been in a complete flow state, because that experience brings me a lot of fulfilment and enjoyment.
What’s the best thing you have watched or listened to in the last year?
Hmmm, this is a tricky one. Apart from watching our plants grow in our garden (which is very rewarding), I was amazed by the live performance by Jacob Collier. A true musical genius and prodigy of our times, with such humility and humbleness…
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